Whispers of Dragons

Chapter 6

I jumped up and whipped my knife out. I took long strides to get to where Will was sitting then yanked his brown hair backwards and put my knife to his throat. "You better start talking and you better start talking now." I threatened. I pushed the edge of the knife closer to his skin. "How do you know that the council has found a way to break the law? Are you a spy?" I demanded in a harsh whisper. He swallowed hard before responding.

"I swear to you Clara, I am not a spy. Everything I have told you so far is true. They took me from my family and I would never, EVER serve anyone who acts in those ways." Will stated earnestly. I moved the edge of the knife so it wasn't as close to his skin and he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, relieved. He gently pushed my hand away from him and turned around in his chair to face me. "Clara, I can't tell you how I know they have a way to break the law." At my furious expression, he backtracked. "At least, not yet. Not until I am one hundred percent sure I can trust you." He told me, nodding at the knife that I still had at ready position by my side. I crossed my arms and stared hard.

"Ok, so let's say I do believe you," I started. "What do you think the council is going to do?" Will visibly relaxed and leaned back in his chair.

"My guess is the council is going to get rid of either one, or both of us. I think that they are going to start off by getting rid of only one of us, since they still need the mages to believe they have a spokesperson on the council. After the first death blows over, I believe they have a plan in place to kill the other one of us. Once we are both dead, they will have no one to stand in their way and as much as they hate mages, my source tells me that they have a small army of powerful ones, waiting to take out everyone who doesn't immediately bow down to the council's wishes." Will finished, out of breath. I thought over that for a second before deciding that the logic was sound.

"Do you know how they plan to kill us?" I asked. He shook his head no. I moved to sit on the edge of the desk as I thought it over.

"They'll probably kill me first." Will stated. I whipped my head around to stare at him. He had a detached look on his face that made me believe he had already accepted that fact. "After all, they know I won't do anything they say and they have no incentive to make me follow them..." He trailed off. I shook my head no.

"No, it's me they'll go after first. No offense, but out of both of us, who do you think is the greater threat to them? A non-mage or an actual mage?" He stared at me, considering my point. He nodded slowly as he pondered over the idea.

"I didn't realize you were a mage," Will confessed. "What's your power?" I smirked.

"Well, trust goes both ways, doesn't it?" He rolled his eyes. "So did your sources tell you when they were planning on attacking?"

"No, but if they are planning on killing you first, then that changes everything." I looked at him questioningly. "I agreed to sacrifice myself." When I opened my mouth to protest, he raised a hand. "Let me explain." When he saw I was planning on staying quiet, he continued. "We thought that they were going to kill me first, and if they did then we would be able to see how they got around the law. Assuming we figured out how the council got around the law, we would be able to prevent that from happening to you. After all, you're the one who really has all the power to change the way life is in Seleman." I squinted at him in confusion but right as I went to question him, a bang sounded from outside the study, followed by silence.

Will cursed and jumped up to yank me by the arm. He started dragging me towards the bookcases muttering to himself. "Will, what's going on?" I questioned. He ignored me and continued searching for something unknown to me. "Will, answer me!" I pleaded.

"I was a fool, I didn't realize it would be so soon." He said flustered as he ran his hand along the bottom of different shelves on the bookcase. I watched him closely and took note of where he found a hidden button underneath one of the shelves. He pressed the button and the wall beside it opened to reveal a dark passageway with torches attached to the walls.

Another bang sounded on the door of the study. "WILL. CLARA. OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW!" Conor's voice roared. Will shoved me towards the passage.

"Get in, now!" He demanded in a harsh whisper. At my hesitance, he reasoned, "Do you WANT to see what will happen when they catch you?" I entered the passage with Will close behind me. He sealed the passage and grabbed my hand to pull me along as we ran. Right as we were turning the corner in the tunnel, I heard the door to the study break and thanked the stars that I was no longer alone in this life.